Blizzcon
2011 is over and done. The stage at Anaheim Convention Center now
stands empty and silent, bereft of the booming surge of gamers that
gathered there over the weekend to celebrate their unifying love of
Blizzard games. For two days players converged on the site to get the
inside info on upcoming Blizzard games such as Diablo III, learn about
the changes coming to those already available like World of Warcraft,
and to mingle with thousands of other gamers to create memories that
will surely last a lifetime.

During these two days there
were epic moments chock full of reveals, shenanigans, and valuable
information aplenty and while every second of Blizzcon was full of
awesomeness, some moments just stood out above the rest. And while it
may seem impossible to pick just a few of these moments as the best,
and trust me it almost was, I have done so and now I would like to
share them with you. So sit back, relax, and read onward to get a
glimpse at some of my personal favorite moments from Blizzcon 2011:

One of the most exciting
moments of Blizzcon came right at the beginning, when the Chris Metzan
revealed the newest World
of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria. It was like a shock wave went
through the crowd, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting for more.
This was especially exciting considering that up until this point it
had been suggested that Blizzcon 2011 would be focusing heavily on
Starcraft II and Diablo III and no huge announcements would be made
regarding WoW at all this year. How mislead we all were.

So needless to say when Chris
announced they would unveil the next expansion in the opening
ceremonies, I imagine I looked much like a startled Scooby Doo
with my head cocked to the side, ear at the ready and I may have made
the same “hrrrrrr?” sound as well. Then when the
announcement was finally made there was much celebration and maybe just
a little bit of bouncing in the Memnock family home.
Yeah…bouncing….what can I say? I like the pandas!

Just when I thought the opening
ceremony of Blizzcon 2011 couldn’t get any better it

did by
tenfold. Not only was there going to be a new fancy smancy expansion
pack for World of Warcraft, but we were going to get a free copy of the
upcoming Diablo III, well at least those of us who didn’t
mind agreeing to a 12 month contract to our WoW subscription. But since
I’m a mega WoW junkie and don’t plan on quitting in
the foreseeable future, jumping on this deal was something I was more
than happy to do. If Blizzard was out to get me amped up lets just say
they were more than successful. Oh did I mention the pony?
Yeah…there is a pony.

Now I know there are a fair
share of people claiming that this is Blizzard’s way of
boosting and keeping WoW subscribers, and while I don’t
really know if this is true, I can acknowledge the possibility and also
say that if this is indeed the case, well, I don’t really
give a damn. The way I see it is that I can’t lose by getting
a free game for paying for one I already pay for anyways.
So…hooray for free (sort of) stuff!

If you haven’t caught
on yet, I’m just a tiny bit excited about Diablo III. So when
I found out that not only would I be able to get a free copy of the
game, we would also be getting a preview at one of the finished
cinematic, my little gamer heart most definitely skipped a few beats
and at that point nothing including hell or high-water was going to
pull me away from my computer screen. And I wasn’t
disappointed, I mean it did manage to make my top 5 list of awesome
BlizzCon moments, so it had to be great right?

The perfect mix of reveal and
mystery the Diablo III cinematic left me wanting more and if possibly
anticipating its release even more than before. For those of you that
didn’t have the privilege to check it out when it first
aired, be sure to do so…its worth it!

I’m pretty sure that
watching the Starcraft II and World of Warcraft tournaments while
cheering and gasping along with the rest of the crowd has probably
ballooned my nerd-dom to whole new levels, I couldn’t help
myself, besides its Blizzcon and it was time for my inner geek to
really shine. While I wasn’t rooting for anyone in particular
the suspense of the matches and prowess of these players taking part in
them left me awestruck.

From watching Mvp’s
heart-wrenching defeat to MMA in the GSL finals, only to see him make a
comeback the next night against NesTea, to biting my nails as health
bars dropped in the battle between OMG and Skill Capped I was totally
enthralled. While I play these games almost every single day,
there is something awe-inspiring about watching others play knowing
that they are possibly the best in the world. GG to all the players who
took part.

Ok so I’m probably
going to hell for this, but while the entire costume contest was
amazing, excellent job to all the participants (even the seemingly
unending line of Sylvanas representations), but my all time favorite
moment from the costume contest occurred when a certain Minecraft
Paladin fell as he walked down the ramp to the main stage.
I’m not happy he fell or anything, I’m not that
much of a jerk, although I will admit I may have laughed…a
little…and only after I saw he was ok! No, this was my
favorite moment of the contest because this guy obviously has some
serious heart. He may have fell but he got back up, calmly reattached
his missing costume arm, and then walked across the stage with more
dignity than I could have managed at a time like that. So props to the
Minecraft Paladin, who didn’t manage to win a prize, but
without a doubt won more than a few gamer hearts at Blizzcon 2011.

Narrowing down my list of
favorite moments was a challenge, what are some of your favorite
moments from BlizzCon 2011? Share them with us in the comments section
below!

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About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.